


Skywalker and Jade

by Guardian_of_Hope



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, F/M, First Meeting, Making Friends, Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, and by cute I mean explosions and red lightsabers, meet cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-05-15 22:21:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14799071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_of_Hope/pseuds/Guardian_of_Hope
Summary: In another universe, a well known farm boy meets his future.





	1. Wedding Speech

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel to my story "A Tie, A Road, and A Key", about how Luke and Mara met in a different galaxy far, far away.

“I remember when Luke first told me about Mara Jade.”

Luke slid down in his seat, “Is Han drunk?”

“Probably.”  Leia didn’t laugh out loud, but Luke could feel that laughter rippling outward in the Force.

“You see, Luke had been off on one of his Jedi information hunts and Chewie and I were stuck on fucking Fondor, when all the sudden he comes blasting in, _not_ in his x-wing, but in some home-made, piece of shit junker, and tracks me down in a bar just to tell me that he’s found his future wife.”

“Okay,” Mara said, and now Luke could feel her amusement as well, “apparently I haven’t heard this story yet.”

“Nor do you want to,” Luke muttered, reaching for his wine glass.  His ears felt hot, he was definitely blushing at the memory of how stupid that meeting had been.

“Hush both of you,” Leia said, “this is a good story.”

“Now, I may have my opinions on all that Force stuff Luke messes with, but I said then that I didn’t think it possible for the Force to know who your perfect partner could be.  Given that we’re standing here, celebrating Luke’s marriage to Mara Jade, this time, I will have to admit that I’m wrong.”

“There’s a first,” Luke muttered.  He paused, “Did he just imply that I was married before?”

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” Mara said.

“Don’t make me send you out of the room,” Leia said sharply.

“Leia honey, I’m trying to tell a story here,” Han said, “do you mind?”

Luke laughed while Leia sputtered for a moment.

“Go ahead, Han,” Mara said, “I want to hear your story.”

“This is the story, as Luke told it to me over drinks,” Han said.


	2. Handshake

Luke had found reports of a collector of Jedi artifacts on Naboo and had gone there to see what he could find.  It was his first trip to the city, and he would later admit that he’d spent part of his first day simply wandering the streets of Theeds, studying the city’s grand architecture.  He even took the time to walk through one of the museums, which was advertising it’s “Restored Republic History Wing” on flyers and signs all over the city.

Finally, however, Luke made his way to the outskirts of Theeds, where a modest home waited in a middle-class neighborhood.  Taking a moment to study it, there was no sign that it contained a supposed fortune in Jedi artifacts.  His comm beeped a reminder of the time, and his appointment with the collector, so Luke walked forward and knocked on the door.

In moments, the door slid open to reveal a chubby little boy who was about eight.  He stared up at Luke for a long moment in silence.  Luke looked back, uncertain what to say to the child.

“Gregor!”  A woman called, “I’ve told you not to open the door!”

Luke stepped back as a woman appeared in the door, scooping up the boy, “I’m sorry,” Luke said.

“That’s not your fault,” the woman smiled kindly.  She had strawberry blond hair pulled back into a braid and wore a beautifully fitted white and blue gown.  “I’m Sonya.”

“Luke Skywalker,” Luke replied, “I, I have an appointment with Grant Naberrie?”

“Of course,” Sonya said as she stepped back into the house, “come inside and I’ll get Grant.”

“Thank you,” Luke said.  He followed her inside, “I was wondering.  A friend told me there was a Senator Naberrie?”

“Pooja?”  Sonya said, “She’s Grant’s cousin.  That branch of the family has more interest in politics than ours.”

“I see,” Luke said.  He wondered for a moment if he should push more, reveal what he’d been learning of his own history, but decided that it wasn’t the time.

“I’ll take your cloak,” Sonya said, “Grant’s in his study, I’ll take you through.”  She deposited the boy, Gregor, on the floor and reached for Luke’s cloak.

Luke slid it off and handed it over, feeling unaccountably nervous.  For a moment, he knew for certain that something momentous was about to occur.  He tried reaching into the Force to get an idea of what to expect, but his moment of introspection was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Now who could that be?”  Sonya murmured, moving to the door with Luke’s cloak in hand.

Luke slipped his lightsaber into his hand and adjusted his stance so that the handle wouldn’t be visible by whomever was at the door.  Sonya pulled the door open cautiously even as the little boy, Gregor, came running from wherever he’d vanished too.  Sonya placed herself squarely in the opening of the door, denying Gregor any chance of getting past her.  The little boy realized this quickly and promptly began to pout.

“Can I help you?”  Sonya asked.

“Forgive the interruption, Madame Naberrie.”

Luke couldn’t see her, but he could tell it was a woman.  She spoke with one of the more interesting variations of the Imperial Center accent, a blurring that suggested that she hadn’t been there in a long time and her surroundings included people who spoke with other, equally distinct accents.

“Who are you?”  Sonya asked.

“My name is Mara Jade.  I’m an agent for a man named Talon Karrde.  You might say that he is in acquisitions, that is, he finds things for people.  I was hoping I might intrude into your afternoon for a word with Grant Naberrie about his collections?”

There was a slight stir in the Force, gone before Luke could do more than register the change.

“I’ll need to see if he’s taking visitors,” Sonya said, her voice sounding almost dreamy.  “It will be just a moment, won’t you come in?”

Luke made his visible hand relax, there was something in how Sonya spoke, as if she weren’t entirely under her own power, and it made him want to shove her away from the door to safety.

Instead, he readied himself as Sonya moved away and let the new visitor enter the room.  It was a woman, of human or near human ancestry, with red hair that she’d pulled back from her face and smoothed down with some sort of product.  Her green eyes swept the room, pausing on Luke for a moment before moving on and then focusing again on Luke.

“Hello,” Luke offered, mustering up a friendly smile, “How are you doing today?”

The woman, Mara Jade, was surprised, as if she hadn’t expected to see him there, but he also got the feeling that she knew exactly who he was.  It was a familiar feeling, but still surprising coming from a complete stranger.

“Fine,” Mara replied.  She offered her hand, “Mara Jade.”

Luke took it easily, “Luke Skywalker.”

_White covered his vision, then it faded.  Mara stood before him in a violet gown that had small, shimmering stones set into it.  At her waist hung a lightsaber that Luke knew was the same shade as her gown.  He also knew that the dress had been a hard fought victory, but he was determined to have this one thing for their wedding.  He’d probably spend years making up for the dress, but it meant that it would take years before Mara decided to leave him.  Keeping him close to make him suffer would always be preferable to Mara.  She liked action._

Luke blinked a few times and pulled his hand back.


	3. Chapter 3

“What was that?” Mara demanded.

“I, uh, I’m not sure,” Luke said.

Mara scoffed, clearly unwilling to believe him even though Luke knew he was telling the truth.  They looked at each other for a long moment before Sonya returned.

“Grant will see you both now.”

“Thank you,” Luke said politely.

“Thank you,” Mara said after a moment, as if the words were foreign to her.

They headed to the back of the house to find Grant Naberrie waiting for them in a small room that was dominated by a large desk.  Grant himself was a dark haired man with pale skin that instantly put Luke in mind of Leia, although he wasn’t really sure why.

“Master Skywalker,” Grant said.

“Mister Naberrie,” Luke replied with a bow.

“I am Mara Jade,” Mara said calmly, “I’m here as an agent of a collector, we’re interested in some of the pieces in your collection.”

“I don’t know how you got past my wife,” Grant replied, “but I know you work for Talon Karrde, and I already told him no.”

“I’m here on behalf of the collector,” Mara said, “He hoped you would be willing to at least listen.”

“The answer is the same as it was then,” Grant said, “I’m not selling to a collector.  I held these artifacts as a trust for the Jedi.”  He turned to Luke, “Master Jedi, I am sorry for being evasive on the matter.  Holding these artifacts.”

“You risked a great deal,” Luke said, “and I appreciate it.  I couldn’t believe it when you contacted me to tell me they existed.”

Mara scoffed, anger lacing her aura.  “You don’t even know my client!  Why not at least listen to what he’s offering?”

“Because unless your people work for Master Skywalker, then what’s the point?”  Grant replied, “He is rebuilding the Jedi Order, and this collection belongs to the Jedi.  It was never ‘mine’ as you seem to think, it was a trust, and one I intend to do right by, by returning it to the Jedi.”

Mara turned to look at Luke, her green eyes narrow with anger.  Luke smiled back politely, “I’m sorry, Madam Jade.”

“No, you’re not,” Mara snapped back.  “You’re getting what you wanted.”  She stood up and stormed off, the sound of her boots echoing back until they were stopped by the slam of a door.

“Really,” Grant said and shook his head, “The nerve of some people, Master Skywalker.  Perhaps you would like to see the collection?”

“I would be honored,” Luke replied, bowing his head and standing as Grant did.

“Wait here,” Grant said, “I’ll return with the artifacts shortly.”

Luke eased back down in his seat, “Thank you.”

Once Grant left, Luke shivered slightly.  It was chilly in the house, and he regretted letting Sonya take his robe like that.  He tucked his arms around his stomach in an off chance that it would loan him so warmth and listened to the noise around him.  Suddenly, he realized he was holding his lightsaber, with no memory of pulling it from his belt.  Frowning, Luke moved to put it away, when he realized that the chill he’d felt had gained an aura of menace that reminded him a great deal of the cave on Dagobah.

Luke stood and turned, igniting his saber in time to catch a descending red blade.


	4. Chapter 4

Sonya Naberrie was no longer dressed as a Noobian housewife. Instead, she wore a black cat suit, and leered at him.  “The little boy has some tricks,” she taunted him.

“Not so little,” Luke replied kicking aside his chair and blocking another attack.

“That’s what you think.”

Luke dove to one side, barely avoiding Grant’s attack with a different red blade.  Luke backed up, trying to watch them both for attacks.  Sonya moved forward again, and Luke responded, moving to block her attack.  Just as his blade connected with hers, Luke heard what sounded like the snap-hiss of another saber and then the crackle of blade meeting blade, but Luke couldn’t take his eyes off Sonya.

“I knew something felt off,” Mara Jade announced.

Luke tied his blade long enough to glance at her, “Thanks for the help.”

“I still want that collection,” Mara replied.

“We get out of this and we’ll discuss splitting it,” Luke replied.  He pushed Sonya back enough to give him clearance to move more, noting absently that Mara’s saber was purple, and she moved like she was well experienced with it.

Luke refocused on Sonya, refusing to let the woman get the better of him.  Then he heard a scream and a double thud before Mara appeared at his side.  “Want some help?”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Luke admitted.  There was no shame in admitting that you were out matched, after all, not with lightsabers.

Mara stepped in, and in minutes Sonya was on the ground dead.  Luke looked around and found Grant kneeling on the ground, his arm on the ground beside him.

“Now we get to ask some questions,” Mara announced as she knelt in front of Grant.  “Let’s start with who you actually are.”

“Traitorous bitch,” Grant snarled.

“None of that,” Luke said, “keep a civil tongue here.”

Mara slapped the man, “Answer the question, who are you?”

Grant snarled, “Sidious’s favor was given rarely and withdrawn easily.  Not even death will stop his reach.”  His face contorted and there was a soft crunching sound before he began shaking and foaming at the mouth.

“Fuck,” Mara said, leaning back slightly, “It’s poison.”

Luke glanced away as the man continued convulsing, swallowing to keep his own stomach settled.

“Now what,” he managed to ask after the man’s convulsions had stopped, “What happened to Grant Naberrie”

“You don’t think that’s him?”  Mara asked.

“No,” Luke replied, “I don’t.  Who knew you were going to be here today?”

“Why is it my fault?  They could have been following you,” Mara stood up, green eyes blazing.

“Because I was trying to remember who all I spoke with about this,” Luke said, “I think maybe Leia and Han, and Chewie.  Artoo knows, which meant he probably told Threepio, but Threepio can keep secrets if he needs too.”  He tapped his fingers on his thigh as he thought, “And Lando, because he was the person who got me in contact at the beginning.”

“Not your New Republic?”  Mara asked.

“I told them I had Jedi business,” Luke shrugged, “they don’t ask questions about that sort of thing.  Given that there are, survivors, who will only meet with me, we tend to an ‘ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies’ policy that’s been working out pretty well for us.”

“My boss knows specifically that I am here,” Mara said finally, “His ship’s crew know I’ve left on a mission, but that is all.  I didn’t exactly log a flight plan and intent of destination when I left.”

Luke nodded, then looked around the room.  “I wonder if the artifacts are even here, then.  Grant Naberrie was a known scholar of several Force religions.  He was investigated and questioned on a very regular basis.  It’s why Lando, Lando Calrissian, even brought it to me, because it was plausible.”

“That is also why I am here,” Jade admitted after a moment.  “We also knew the rumors were not without a grain of truth.”

Luke hummed softly to himself a moment, “I guess we should get Judicial out here as well.”  He glanced upwards, “That poor little boy.”

“He’s Force sensitive,” Jade said, “will you take him with you?”


	5. Chapter 5

Luke turned, “Will I what?”

“Take him with you, to be trained,” Jade crossed her arms, “You are trying to rebuild the Jedi Order, after all.”

“I am,” Luke agreed, “but, why would I take a child, he has family here?”

“Didn’t you know?  The Jedi were infamous for stealing Force sensitive babies,” Jade said.  “Oh, they claimed the parents were willing, but they didn’t have credibility after that court case.”

Luke tilted his head, “I’ll need to research that.  In the meantime, the boy probably has family on Naboo, and that is where he goes.”  He ran his hand through his hair and sighed, “So, call judicial, find the artifacts, take care of the boy.  Am I missing anything?”

“We could just dispose of the bodies,” Jade said, “not involve Judicial.”

“Sorry, I kind of promised that I would stop doing stuff like that,” Luke said.  He knelt and began to check the man’s clothing for IDs and other information.

“What are you doing?”  Jade demanded.

“The only thing you can do with a dead man,” Luke replied as he pulled out a handful of data chips.  He looked up, “The kid’s coming downstairs, can you stall him?”

“Because I’m a woman?”  Jade demanded.

“Because you don’t have blood on you,” Luke said.

Jade scoffed but left.  Luke dumped the data chips on the desk and went over to the woman, quickly finding a similar handful on her.  He added them to the pile on the desk and set to inspecting the desk itself.  There was a presence about the desk, something he’d learned to associate with the feel of something with the Force in it.

“The boy is Gregor Naberrie,” Jade announced.  “He thinks that these two are taking care of him while his parents left on a business trip, something that has happened in the past, infrequently.  I told him that he needed to stay in his room because there was trouble and he went.”

“Thank you,” Luke said.  He tapped the desk, “You’re Force sensitive, aren’t you?”

“What of it?”  Jade asked suspiciously.

“There’s something about this desk, I can tell, sort of.  I’m not sure what it is though.”  Luke turned to her, “Can you figure it out?”

Jade chuckled, “Perfect Skywalker isn’t perfect.”

“I never said I was,” Luke said, stepping back as Jade approached the desk.

“You’re a Jedi Knight, aren’t you?”  Jade said.

“When I have to be,” Luke replied, he turned to one of the bookshelves and began examining the books.  “I’d much rather be a pilot.”

“You do know you’re famous for that too,” Jade said.

“Well, yeah, but that’s a skill.  Anyone can be a pilot if they’re willing to learn, not everyone can be a Jedi.”  Luke said. 

“Found it,” Jade announced.

Luke turned and stared, Jade was holding a holocron.  Luke had seen Kanan’s holocron, had heard about the hundreds that had once been in the care of the Jedi Order, but this one was new.

“This must have been intended to be the bait,” Jade murmured, as she examined it.

Luke inched closer, “Can you open it?”

“Can you?”  Jade asked.

Luke shrugged, “Probably, but you’re the one holding it.  That would be rude.”

Jade hummed for a moment, considering.

“There are other artifacts,” Luke said as a thought occurred to him, “Naberrie’s collection was supposed to be quite extensive.  I’m looking for information about the Jedi Order, things that can teach.  If there are other artifacts, things that won’t provide information or be useful for a student, I’ll trade you your help in finding them for those artifacts.”

“That’s quite the trade,” Jade said, “those artifacts could be worth a lot of credits.”

Luke spread his hands outwards, “Credits may be important, but I can get that from other sources.  Knowledge, that’s what I’m looking for.  I’m supposed to be rebuilding the Jedi Order, and the knowledge to do so is has a greater worth for me.”

Jade put the holocron on the desk beside the data chips.  “What about Judicial?”

“First, I’m sure you’d rather not be here when they arrive,” Luke said, and Jade nodded slowly, “So I would ask you to help me do a quick look, to see what it is we can sense now.  If there’s something here, we can secure it first.  Then we bring in Judicial to deal with the rest of it.”

Jade considered his words, and Luke could feel the Force responding to her consideration.  “I’m not sure they are here.”

“I’m not either,” Luke admitted.  “I don’t think the real Grant Naberrie would have kept them in his home, not with the Emperor using those Inquisitors.”

“He did for a while,” Jade said, “I can tell, there was a high concentration of the Force here, but it’s faded.  That holocron, the boy, us, we’re here, but there was more.”

Luke bit his lip, holding back a million questions.  He couldn’t read anything nearly that accurate and he wanted to know how she did it.  Instead, he simply nodded, “I see what you mean.”

“We should consider that it is not on planet any longer,” Jade continued.

“I hate to admit that you might be right,” Luke said.  He stepped back, turning back to study the shelves.  “Although, if the original offer was at all genuine, then I would wonder if it wasn’t here, somewhere.”

“What are you thinking, Skywalker?”  Jade asked.

Luke turned, “I’d rather not risk Judicial taking the holocron, or the data cards.  If they go into evidence, we’d never see them again.”  He glanced up, “And there’s the fact that Gregor knows you’re here.  He’ll mention you to Judicial in the course of his story.”

“Spit it out,” Jade snapped.

“Well, I’m just thinking that I should go out front to make that call for Judicial,” Luke said.  “It might take me awhile to explain things.  And I’d have to call my astromech, R2-D2, in docking bay 173, to let him know it’s going to take longer than expected.  I’m also sure that I, a naïve farm boy, would trust a pretty lady to stay to answer questions if I weren’t keeping an eye on her the whole time.”  Luke made sure to widen his eyes, to convey his innocence in the matter.

“Don’t do that,” Jade said, “it’s disturbing, with the blood.  Go call Judicial, Farm Boy.”

Luke bowed to her and headed out.  Hopefully he was right, and Mara would understand the message.


	6. Chapter 6

It took him nearly four hours to escape Judicial questioning, a state compounded by the fact that Jade had taken the boy with her.  In hindsight, he should have been slightly more specific on the matter, especially given the variety of looks the Naberrie family had presented him when Luke had insisted that he didn’t know what had happened to the boy.

Finally, he got back to his docking bay, only to find his X-Wing and astromech missing.

“You have to be kidding me,” Luke grumbled.

“Not in the way you’re thinking,” Jade said, stepping out of a shadow.  “I had your astromech move the X-Wing to my birth.”

“And Gregor?”

“He followed me. The kid isn’t stupid, he knows that something happened to his parents, and he wanted to help.”  Jade replied.

“He’s a kid!”  Luke protested.

“He opened the holocron,” Jade said, “it showed a map to his dad’s artifacts.  The kid knows how to make it work.”

Luke sighed, “All right, I understand.  But we’re not going to take him off Naboo, regardless of his help.  I’m not doing that to his family.”

Jade considered a moment, then nodded, “You get to explain it to the boy, though.”

“I never expected otherwise,” Luke replied.

Jade’s ship was in a hanger a short walk from where Luke had left his X-Wing.  They were met at the door by a highly frustrated Artoo.

“I’m here,” Luke said, “I’m here, Artoo.  It’s okay.  You did fine.”

Artoo spat out a profanity laden response.

“Hey,” Luke said, “at least make sure the kid can’t understand binary before you talk like that.  It’s rude.”

“You speak binary?”  Jade said.

“I understand it,” Luke shrugged, “it’s like Shyriiwook.  I can’t make the proper sounds myself, but I can understand it.  Artoo’s got a foul mouth all things considered.  A friend of mine, he told me that what he learned from R2 earned him friends and at least one lifelong enemy.”

Jade tilted her head a little, then turned and headed for the shuttle that took up a third of the bay.  Luke hesitated a moment, noting the _Theta-_ class shuttle’s appearance, including some carbon scoring that suggested it had seen quite a bit of fighting over the years.  He headed inside to find Gregor seated on a crate, the holocron open before him.

“Kid, here’s Skywalker,” Jade announced, “talk to him.”  She vanished into the cockpit.

“You’re the real Luke Skywalker?”  Gregor asked.

“Yes, I am,” Luke replied, take a seat on a different crate.  “Your family is worried about you.”

Gregor shrugged, “They don’t like Daddy.  They thought his Force stuff would get them in trouble.”

Luke tilted his head, “That doesn’t mean they aren’t worried about you.”

“Cousin Sola hates the Jedi,” Gregor said, “and she doesn’t like me either.  She thinks I’m dangerous.”

Part of Luke wanted to reassure the seven-year-old, but he knew that look.  It broke his heart to see it in a young boy.  Finally, he slid off the crate and rested his hand on Gregor’s knee.

“Gregor,” he began carefully, “I can’t, I can’t say that’s not true.  I don’t know your cousin very well.  I do know of her sister, Padmé Naberrie though.”

“She was Queen,” Gregor said, “and Senator.”

“She was also an ally of the Jedi,” Luke agreed.

“But she died,” Gregor said.

Luke nodded, “And that makes Sola afraid.  She blames the Jedi for losing her sister.  She knows what you can do, which is what the Jedi could do, and that makes her afraid.”

“That’s stupid, I’d never hurt her,” Gregor said.

Luke sighed, “Sometimes, even grown ups are wrong.”  He tilted his head, “Now, about your father’s artifacts.”

“He was going to give them to you,” Gregor said, “for the Jedi.   He wanted you to be able to teach them, and to teach me.”

Luke smiled, “When I open the Jedi Academy, I’ll make sure your name is on the list.  Do you know where those artifacts are?”

“In the lake district,” Gregor said, “Daddy hid them there after I was born.  I gave Master Jade the coordinates.”

Luke glanced at the cockpit, unable to hide a smile.  “Okay,” Luke said.  He settled back on his crate as the ship began to shudder from taking off.

“You like her,” Gregor said.

“A bit,” Luke admitted.  He leaned forward, “Gregor,” he began then stopped as the ship jerked.

The cockpit door slammed open, “They blew up the docking bays,” Mara called, “ground emplacements, not air.  It’s going to be tricky for a bit, hold on.”

“Need me to do something?”  Luke called back.

“Keep an eye on the kid,” Mara replied.  “I got this.”

“You got it,” Luke said, turning back to Gregor.  “This might be a bit bumpy.”

Gregor held out his hand and called the holocron back to it, “Okay.”

“So, how much do you know?”  Luke asked.

Gregor shrugged, “Not much.  Daddy only let me see this one, and only for a little bit.  He said that I’d have a real teacher one day.”

Luke chuckled, “Well, we’ll see what we can do about that, okay?  For now, let’s find your dad’s artifacts, and make sure nobody takes them to do bad things.”

“That would be really bad, wouldn’t it?”  Gregor asked.

“Yes,” Luke replied, “but don’t worry, Mara Jade and I will make sure nothing bad happens to you or the artifacts.”

The ship jerked, and Luke braced himself, reaching out Gregor, who almost rolled off his crate.  Once the ship fully leveled out, Gregor slid off the crate and onto the floor, holding his knees to his chest as he leaned against the crate.

“I want my mom,” Gregor said after a minute.

Luke slid off his crate and knelt down as he realized the boy was crying, “We’ll find her, Gregor.  Even if we don’t like what we find, I promise you, we’ll look.”

Another jolt from the ship and Gregor fell forward, Luke barely catching him before he hit the floor.  After a moment, Luke pulled Gregor into him, letting the boy grab onto him as he sobbed.  There was a long moment of near silence, then the sound of an explosion.  Moments later there was a crackling noise before Mara Jade’s voice came over the ship’s intercom. 

“I’ve managed to get rid of our pursuers, but I can’t promise we aren’t on somebody’s radar right now.  I’m going to take a detour or two, make sure we aren’t being tracked.”

“Thank you,” Luke called back, unsure what he should actually say when faced with that information.

“You’re welcome,” Mara Jade replied, sounding amused.

“I like her,” Gregor said, “she’s funny.”

“Me too,” Luke admitted.  “But don’t tell her I said that.”

“You do know the all speaker’s still on, right?”  Mara said dryly just as ship tilted into a turn.

Gregor giggled as Luke groaned and buried his face in his hands.


End file.
